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Jo Shishido, Mariko Ogawa, Koji Nanbara, Annu Mari, Isao Tamagawa ... see more see more... , Anne Mari , Hiroshi Minami , Joe Shishido

A delirious fever dream of a film, Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill takes the familiar elements of "B"-movie crime drama and transforms them into something outrageously bizarre and unexpectedly poetic.... read more read more... The film's story centers on Hanada, a.k.a. "No. 3 Killer," the third-best hit man in Japanese organized crime. Near the top of his game, his fortunes change when he encounters Misako, a mysterious, death-obsessed woman who brings him a particularly difficult mission. In a famous moment indicative of the film's eccentric sensibility, a butterfly lands on his gun's sight at the exact moment he pulls the trigger, causing him to miss the shot. This failure means that the killer becomes the target, and must run for his life from his former employers, and the mysterious "No. 1 Killer." While the film does contain some spectacular action sequences, the story is played less as a suspense thriller than as a surrealistic, psychosexual nightmare, filled with grotesque imagery and strange touches, such as Misako's use of a dead bird's corpse as a rear-view mirror decoration, and his almost fetishistic fixation with the smell of boiling rice. Indeed, the narrative is at times so fragmented that it is often difficult to decipher exactly what is happening; however, the striking black-and-white cinematography and avant-garde editing provide the film with a dream logic all its own. Now considered by many critics a maverick classic comparable to the works of Samuel Fuller or Jean-Luc Godard, the film was less well received at the time of its original release, with its utter strangeness leading to director Suzuki's firing from the Nikkatsu studio and the near destruction of his career. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Flixster Users

82% liked it

4,932 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

13 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Seijun Suzuki

Release Date: January 1, 1967

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DVD Release Date: February 23, 1999

Stats: 289 reviews

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Branded to Kill Joe Shishido
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Flixster Reviews (289)

  • 366weirdmovies
    July 22, 2010
    366weirdmovies
    Hamada, the #3 killer with the rice-sniffing fetish, finds himself in trouble with the Organization after he falls in love with a woman with a death wish. BRANDED drips with 60s cool and is a near-perfect work of neo-surrealism in that, although the details often don't make sens... read moree, the big picture always does. Contains the memorable scenes of Hamada assassinating a man by shooting up a drainpipe and botching a hit when a butterfly lands on his gun barrel.
  • flixsterman
    May 25, 2010
    flixsterman
    Nonsensical violence with some of the most poorly choreographed gunfights you'll ever see. A macabre train-wreck of a film that draws you in by appealing to that warped, illogical, action-craving part of your brain that everyone has and few acknowledge.
  • arashxak
    July 20, 2009
    arashxak
    Not the weird for the sake of being weird movie that I expected but has many unconventional & absurd moments, Overall fun & funny
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    May 5, 2009
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Style made into substance. Just like Hausu, this is another movie that feels like it droped from some alternative dimension. Writting a review for this is beyond the point, you either going to dig this or not. Even if you end up disliking it by the end the fact will remain, there... read more's no other movie like Branded to Kill, and will never be.
  • DrBenway
    March 13, 2008
    DrBenway
    Seijun Suzuki's Branded To Kill is a yakuza film for a unique sort of audience. The movie studio had approaced Suzuki to do a gangster flick and had given him a scipt with strong rules to follow. He disregarded and gave them Branded To Kill. Upon studio heads previewing the fil... read morem when complete, Suzuki was fired on the spot from the studio.

    It's been said that this is about as close to traditional yakuza pictures as Godard's "Alphaville" is to science fiction and should you choose to see this, you'll strongly agree, afterwards....hell, maybe even 15 minutes into it.

    Everything from death, love, sex, car chases, and even walking through a hallway are tweaked by Suzuki's creative vision. To shove things into the studio's face even more, Seijun Suzuki remade his own film around the turn of the century as Pistol Opera.

    branded to kill 3
  • kenstachnik
    October 17, 2007
    kenstachnik
    It's Ghost Dog,,,on Japaneses LSD with alot of sex throne in for flavor
  • fb208103125
    January 20, 2012
    fb208103125
    The famous and extreme film that got Seijun Suzuki fired after it's release and nearly destroyed his career, now over 40 years since it's release the film is heralded as a classic from an auteur and is praised alongside such Directors as Fuller and Godard. I've seen Suzuki films... read more and after viewing "Tokyo Drifter" a couple days ago (Which is also reviewed in my blog) I thought that his films couldn't push the envelope that much more but boy was I wrong! "Branded to Kill" is Suzuki at his most extreme of extremes! This film is of the same essence as "Tokyo Drifter" but fueled up and nearly dreamlike throughout the entire film with it's striking B&W cinematography and editing that is truly dreamlike and even humorous in it's progression of timing. The film is filled with both action and drama and some truly outrageous and simply strange scenes, most of which involve the main character Hanada Goro and his fetish for sniffing boiling rice. The film also plays out like a wonderful and surreal thriller in the ways of some of the assassinations as well as the various character's and their bizarre issues. All this said, If you are looking for something truly different and unique as well as a damn fine film filled with style to spare and created by a true film auteur, then this is one hell of a ride!
  • lesleyanorton
    March 16, 2010
    lesleyanorton
    Black and white Japanese yakuza thingy, and if that sounds vague then blame the film, because I didn't have a clue what was going on most of the time. This was the film that got Suzuki the director banned from the studio for "making movies that made no sense and no money" though ... read moreapparently now its seen as an "absurdist masterpiece" whatever that is. Anyway there's lots of shooting and jangly music, and a couple of women who keep losing their clothes for some reason, and a room full of dead butterflies. If thats any help.
  • divinetrash
    October 6, 2010
    divinetrash
    Sometimes the very own weirdness of the movie (not that there's too much or too complicated) sinks it a little, though without it the story would be too simple as told, but it's saved by the fact that it's always easy to follow, rather engaging, some humor and an interesting lead... read more character.
  • robfearon
    August 13, 2009
    robfearon
    Strange. Didn't really do anything for me.

View All Branded to Kill Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
January 9, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Reputedly one of Seijun Suzuki's finest works and unquestionably very stylish in its 'Scope framings (Jim Jarmusch copied a few shots from it in his Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai). Full Review

Matthew Sorrento
April 5, 2012
Matthew Sorrento, IdentityTheory

The images remain so strong that we wonder whether the overall films began as mental images, unearthed from an artist's psyche to help construct probing popular entertainment. Full Review

Christopher Long
February 3, 2012
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis

Seijun Suzuki doesn't do establishing shots, and when he does, they don't establish s***. Full Review

Eric Melin
January 13, 2012
Eric Melin, Kansas City Star

Because its so free of the conventions of other crime thrillers, that in and of itself is thrilling. The disorienting camera angles and jumps in time are all part of the atmosphere. Full Review

January 9, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

One of the most bizarre movies ever made, a wildly perverse and incredibly stylish one-of-a-kind deconstructionist yakuza thriller. Full Review

Geoff Andrew
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Occasionally mystifying, but always witty, inventive and dazzling to look at. Full Review

Rumsey Taylor
August 19, 2003
Rumsey Taylor, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Director Seijun Suzuki melds eastern production values and western crime devices into a film with little inhibition and ample creativity. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
July 29, 2002
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

If you get off on strange films, then this one should be right up your alley. Full Review

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
May 26, 2002
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

I watched it [twice] and it still didn't make sense. That is in no way meant as a complaint. Full Review

Bryant Frazer
January 1, 2000
Bryant Frazer, Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

It's a knockout. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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